Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham jail Blog

A Letter From Birmingham JailAfter reading the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr, I can see that he used many strategies to convince readers about segregation. He directed this text to clergymen and a moderate amount of white people of Birmingham. Martin claimed that he was an outsider but he provided moral reasons for his presence. Martin Luther King Jr.’s first strategy was to explain his plan of organizing a non-violent action. He stated that the word “Tension” frighten the white moderates, but it embraced the concept as “constructive and nonviolent”. He also insisted that negotiation couldn’t happen without protest. Martin also explained that oppressed people cannot be oppressed forever and he said “Something within has reminded him of his birth right of freedom and something without has reminded him that it can be gain.” This means that the American-Negro can get their birth right of freedom if only they can gain it. The way to gain the birth right of freedom is by succeeding in the nonviolent action that Martin described. Martin was able to clearly express himself and explain the situation in this letter. When reading through the letter, I could clearly see that he was trying to show that injustices exist. He said that if a black man’s house was burnt down or bombed, the police would not investigate the incident. On the other hand, if a white man’s house were burnt, then the police would try as hard as they can to find the culprit. Furthermore, Martin was able to make the reader sympathize when he said, “ We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights.” In addition, Martin also wrote examples of how black people are mistreated. He said that black people’s first name had become “Nigger” and their middle name has become “boy” regardless of their age, and then “john” follows. In one of the paragraph, Martin explained of why he wanted to start making actions then. He said, “For years now I have...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...BirminghamJail
The eight Alabama clergymen wrote a public statement to express their feelings about the actions of MartinLutherKing Jr. and his followers. They felt the demonstrations he was leading were unnecessary and the racial issues in the city of Birmingham could be resolved through the citizens having a meeting. The clergymen thought Negros should be patient and “observe the principles of law and order and common sense” (Public Statement). The clergymen stated, “We further strongly urge our own Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham” (Public Statement). This was their way of saying King was not welcome or needed in Birmingham. They seemed to believe in segregation and rights of black people, but they didn’t accept the ways of protest and demanding.
King writes a letter to the clergymen on 16 April, 1963 to defend his position in Birmingham. King retaliates on all points made by the clergymen and gives much in depth examples to defend his actions. He feels that without pressure there will be no change, definitely not soon enough. He proclaims, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” to defend his reason for coming to Birmingham...

...MartinLutherKing wrote "A letterfromBirminghamjail" in response to a published statement by eight fellow ministers from Alabama who violently critiqued King for association and involvement in the protest march against discrimination in Birmingham. King's letter was an effort to defend himself from allegations and to criticize white moderates and church.
Starting in the first lines of the letter, MartinLutherKing tries to discard the denunciation of being an outsider in Birmingham. He states that he was invited to Birmingham and had organizational connections as the president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Furthermore, MartinLutherKing did not count himself to be an outsider due to the fact that all people who live within bounds of the United States of America could not be pronounced as outsiders.
In reference to allegations that the protests were precocious, MartinLutherKing states several reasons why this was a suitable time for direct action. Originally, discussions with Birmingham's economic public did not give correct results and suppliers did not remove mortifying racial signs from the stores....

...MartinLutherKing Jr. was a major part of the civil rights movement. He led a peaceful protest and yet he was still arrested, which violated the first amendment. While in jail, a statement was published by eight white members of the clergy who criticized King’s actions as “unwise and untimely” and that the battle for segregation was supposed to be fought in the courts but never in the streets. In response to their statement, King wrote a multipage letter, “Letterfrom a BirminghamJail,” directed towards those men and America.
King wrote the “Letterfrom a BirminghamJail” because he stood for what he believed in and strongly felt that he was fighting for the right cause. In the letter, King states the disappointment he has towards the white moderate. He says the white moderate did not understand that law and order coincide for the sole purpose of establishing justice. Since they didn’t understand “they became the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.”(295). Due to the white moderates following these unjust laws, they became blind to the fact that it allows segregation to continue for a significant amount of time.
Another idea that King believed kept the African Americans...

...MartinLutherKing Jr.’s Persuasion in “LetterFromBirminghamJail”
After being arrested and imprisoned in BirminghamJail, MartinLutherKing Jr. wrote one of his most famous works to the people of Birmingham, titled “LetterFromBirminghamJail on April 16, 1963. This piece speaks of the evils of the segregation laws and how the blacks had been treated unfairly in Birmingham, in an attempt to get the white people to support the desegregation of Birmingham. He had been imprisoned because of his participation in a civil disobedience protest, and he is arguing that, even though the white people of Birmingham see the black’s way of protesting as wrong, it is a justified way to fight back against the unjust laws. In “LetterFromBirminghamJail.” MartinLutherKing Jr. uses rhetorical strategies in order to convince the people of Birmingham that the segregation laws are unjust and that the people of Birmingham should support the African American’s acts of civil disobedience and their attempts to end segregation.
MartinLutherKing...

...MartinLutherking believes that the only way to wipe away the injustices experienced within Birmingham City was through holding peaceful negotiations in order to resolve the issues amicably.
In the article, "Ways of Meeting Oppression" by MartinLutherKing Jr, tries to bring out Injustices and Oppression, which have been prevalent issues within our society. He believed that black Americans could win equal rights by peaceful means such as peaceful boycotts and marches. He always reminded Americans that their nation's principles were justice, freedom and equality.
Luther King's argument for non-violent protest against the greater good of human beings may be the disobedience by the authorities, but as Erich Fronmon states in his essay "Disobedience is a psychological and Moral Problem", that any act of disobedience against any inhuman law state is morally correct and is for the betterment of the human kind.
In his speech "I have a dream", He says that his nation will rise up to the true meaning of its creed...that all men treated equally. He believed that his children will live to the expectation of his dreams and that equality, both the white people and the black people would exercise fairness and justice.
In MartinLutherKing message "Struggle for Equality" in 1963 , he shared his dream of equality with the...

..."Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,"are the words of MartinLutherKing Jr. penned in a 1963 letter he wrote while incarcerated in a BirminghamJail during the height of grave racial tensions and segregation. King believed in a nonviolent approach to combatting racial inequalities and injustice and I too, support the approach he took.
MLK cites in his letter that his non-violent approach was more instinctive than anything else. He was from a line of preachers, people who embodied the church and believed in treating each other equally and taking the "christian approach." I could see myself using such an approach because as a young man growing up I was taught in church and by my parents to treat people equally, respectfully and to resolve issues in a non-violent manner-that's without fighting.
King also cited in his letter that during this racially charged period he served as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating In every southern state, with it's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the affiliates in Birmingham had asked King and his group to participate in a direct action program if it became necessary. That moment came and they engaged in demonstrations, marches, sit-ins and other civil disobedience. I can definitely...

...
Letterfrom a BirminghamJail
Dr. MartinLutherKing Jr., a civil rights leader, was put into jail after being part of the Birmingham campaign in April 1963. He was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was asked by an Alabama group to come to Birmingham. He and members of his organization joined The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and organized non-violent protests against racial segregation. Because of these nonviolent protests, many of his followers were put into jail. Alabama clergymen published a announcement in the paper stating blacks should not support MartinLutherKing Jr. and the other protesters. While in jail, Dr. King replied with a letter directed towards these men and the rest of the community. MartinLutherKing Jr. argued for nonviolent protest with the use of ethos, logos, and pathos in his “Letterfrom a BirminghamJail”.
Ethos
MartinLutherKing Jr. is a very smart and reasonable man. He explained why he is in Birmingham and he compared himself to Apostle Paul and other prophets that wanted to bring freedom. He also...

...“LetterfromBirmingham City Jail” – KingMartinLuther King’s “LetterFromBirminghamJail” was written in response to a letter directed at him on April 12, 1963 by a group of clergymen. His response was composed under difficult circumstances, in a jail cell with limited paper. In fact, he began the composition of this address on the margins of a newspaper and small scraps of paper. He was thrown in jail for, in the words of the clergymen, participating in and leading “unwise and untimely” demonstrations in the city of Birmingham, Alabama during the civil rights movement. His lengthy response uses logical validity and rhetorical strategies to appeal to the people of the South and express his views on segregation and the direction it must take to promote equality among all people.
The “LetterFromBirminghamJail” was written on April 16, 1963, just four days after the eight clergymen addressed King in their letter. King was disappointed in the clergymen, whom he wished would be supportive of his cause. He thought these people of religion would see the unjust actions and lack of equality in the region. As he writes his response he bases his argument on the...